New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party used hawala money, liquor kickbacks for Goa polls said Enforcement Directorate

New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of "using" a part of the Rs 100 crore kickbacks allegedly received from the 'south group' liquor lobby to meet its expenditure for the Goa Assembly poll campaign in 2022.

The accusation has been made in the agency's supplementary charge sheet filed in the Delhi Excise policy linked money laundering case. It has arraigned as accused a media publicity company, Chariot Productions Media Pvt. Ltd., and its owner-promoter Rajesh Joshi in the prosecution complaint. A Delhi court took cognisance of this charge sheet on Monday.

"A careful perusal of findings of investigation has revealed that several persons, including Rajesh Joshi and his company Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd, are actually involved in several processes/activities connected with a part of proceeds of crime ie. the kickbacks of Rs 100 crore received from the South Group," the ED alleged. "Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd is not only involved in making payments through banking channel but also in cash through hawala network... and the actual beneficiary of these payments is AAP as these payments were used for meeting expenditure of Goa Elections in year 2022," it alleged.

It said the money laundering investigation launched by it in this case last year under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) found that "a part of proceeds of crime of Rs 30 crore were transferred through hawala network to make payments to vendors for advertisement in Goa election campaign of AAP." "The payment was made both through the banking channel as well as through cash," the ED said. It added, as part of the charge sheet filed in this case last month before a local court, "a part of money trail of proceeds of crime of Rs 80 lakh (approx) is traced back to advertisement vendors and survey for AAP during Goa elections."

The agency, like in an earlier charge sheet, again mentioned the name of AAP leader and MP Raghav Chadha as part of a statement recorded of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's secretary C Arvind. Chadha has not been named as an accused in the charge sheet. "...that at Dy CM's (Sisodia's) residence there was a meeting of Raghav Chaddha, ACS Finance of Punjab Govt, Excise Commissioner, Sh Varun Roojam, FCT and officers from Punjab Excise where Vijay Nair was also present," the ED said. In a statement, Chadha said he has not been named as an accused in a complaint filed by the ED and that news reports in this context are "factually wrong, incorrect and appear to be part of a malicious propaganda to harm my reputation and credibility." "I have not been named as an accused or even a suspect in any of the complaints filed by the Enforcement Directorate. There are no allegations whatsoever against me in the said complaints. It appears that in the complaint my name is mentioned as an attendee to some meeting though the basis of making such an allegation is not clear. I vehemently and unequivocally deny commission of any alleged offence in any manner, in relation to the said meeting or otherwise," he said.